Welcome Isla to the Teodoro-Williams family!

We welcome Isla Teodoro Williams to our family - born on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 11:40am via cesarian section at Washington Hospital, Fremont, California. At birth, Isla weighed 8 lbs, 9 ounces and measured 19 inches. Big girl :-) She was 11 days early. Her original due date was March 8th (just 1 day later than Aidan's birthday). 

More to come later. Mommy (that's me) needs to catch up on sleep, chores, and everything else!

Maya-isms Volume 2

Good dob Aidan! (translation: Good job Aidan. For a job well done like closing the refrigerator door)

Awww, it's ok Aidan, it's ok (usually said when Aidan is sad or crying)

Lola, are you ok? (Maya asked Lola while she was eating breakfast and she noticed that Lola was seating on the sofa)

Hi baby. Are you ok? (Directed towards Mommy's tummy)

Aidan be quiet! (usually said in a commanding tone of voice when Aidan is running around and screaming happily around the house while she is watching TV or otherwise concentrating on a craft)

Both arms Mommy! (when she waves her wand with a Bibbidi-bobidee-boo and I only raise one arm to signal I've been turned into a princess)

Mommy take care of me! (when she is not feeling well and wants to cuddle and be covered in her favorite blanket)

Evolution of Lullabies (through my children's eyes and ears)

I love to sing. I've been singing for as long as I can remember. So when I had Maya I knew lullabies would be sung every night (ok, almost every night). The first time I remember singing her a lullaby was in the NICU of El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA. I was singing her "Cradle Song" (by Sandi Patty) and she promptly threw up on me after the first verse. That was the first of many interesting things that happen during the lullaby portion of our bedtime routine.

Maya "seemed" to love lullabies. When she was a baby, she would snuggle in my arms while I sang her songs (Dark Brown is the River, Cradle Song, Ugoy ng Duyan, All the Pretty Horses - pretty standard lullaby fare). Daddy sang the more contemporary songs (or should I say more modern? I mean how contemporary can Patsy Cline be? Definitely more contemporary than Brahms' lullaby I guess!). Daddy sang Crazy (song made famous by Patsy Cline but actually written by Willie Nelson), You Belong to Me (can you spot a trend here? Daddy loved his Patsy Cline music).

Aidan heard very few lullabies at the beginning of his life. That's because he hardly stopped crying for me to even finish one. He was also more restless in my arms and moved around quite a bit. Even now at 16 months, he still barely finishes one whole song (he'd either be up in arms or fast asleep after the second verse of Ugoy ng Duyan).

Maya on the other hand seemed to look forward to lullabies. Even now as she is almost 3 years old, lullaby time is almost well, like showtime! Mommy sings a song. Maya sings a song. We all clap afterwards! Yay! Lately it's been Jesus Loves the Little Children and Jesus Loves You. Afterwards we both try to sing Somewhere Out There (Maya loves to sing the first few lines and goes off on the next octave on "Beneath the pale moonlight" - it is so unbelievably cute, lol). She used to belt out Tomorrow (from Annie) even after I've put her to bed. Then there's You (Carpenters song Tito Peter sung at Tito Dave and Tita Anne's wedding) - we do this song complete with action. The most current song I've been singing to her which she absolutely loves is Martina McBride's "In My Daughter's Eyes" (especially the part "When she puts her hand around my finger...").

I don't think I'll ever stop singing songs to my kids. It is one more expression of how much I love them and I am happy that I can share my interest in music even at this very young stage in their lives. We haven't started cooking or baking lessons yet or playing catch with a softball mitt - all things in their own good time (to paraphrase slightly from Ecclesiastes). But music is something we all share and cherish right now.

In My Daughter's Eyes (Martina McBride)

In My Daughter's Eyes
In my daughter's eyes I am a heroI am strong and wise and I know no fearBut the truth is plain to seeShe was sent to rescue meI see who I wanna beIn my daughter's eyesIn my daughter's eyes everyone is equalDarkness turns to light and theworld is at peaceThis miracle God gave to me gives mestrength when I am weakI find reason to believe In my daughter's eyesAnd when she wraps her handaround my fingerOh it puts a smile in my heartEverything becomes a little clearerI realize what life is all aboutIt's hangin' on when your hearthas had enoughIt's giving more when you feel like giving upI've seen the lightIt's in my daugter's eyesIn my daughter's eyes I can see the futureA reflection of who I am and what will beThough she'll grow and someday leaveMaybe raise a familyWhen I'm gone I hope you see how happyshe made meFor I'll be thereIn my daughter's eyes

Maya-isms Volume 1

Maya is almost 3 years old (34 months on June 12th to be exact). Her vocabulary has exploded this past month! I need to keep track of all the funny, adorable and cute things she's been saying so I can tell her when she's older.

"It's like a dream come true," Maya said after seeing Mommy pull out her 10-year old wedding gown (it was very princess-y and most likely reminded her of Cinderella - hence the movie quote response).

"Good job Mommy" - her response when I finished coloring a page from one of her coloring books. We were coloring books together today (Monday June 9, 2008).

"I like my Mommy" - she looked up to me from coloring her books and smiled as she said this. Awwwww. Who wants to go back to work after hearing this? :-) It's the best affirmation a mommy can get (in addition to I love my mommy - which I hear a lot as well!).

"Anything else?" - after Lola gave her multiple instructions to find her crayons. I don't think she was giving Lola some attitude so we thought it was pretty funny. I must say "Anything else" a lot - I mean, where else would she hear it? Maybe preschool.

"Look at all these (fill in the blank)" - could be cars, doors, sunscreen, stuff, etc etc. Said with a lot of excitement and a rise in volume of her voice :-)

Maya and her "eda-mommy"

Maya was very hungry (as usual) after her morning stint at the preschool. The first thing she asked when we walked in the door was "eda-mommy, eda-mommy please." Ha, ha - it was soooo cute! I've now become a soybean. While she was eating the edamame (along with a chicken salad sandwich and some grapes - my girl was HUNGRY!), I asked her to say it again. This time she said, "edamama." She said eda-mama two or three more times. What a cutie.

My first blog (almost 2 years ago!)

Saturday, October 29, 2005

So here goes my first attempt at a blog (having received a lot of encouragement from my baby sis Anj). It's ironic that I'm actually pathetically "technology-challenged." After all, I work as a manager at a high-tech company in the Bay Area (Silicon Valley, mecca for all things high-tech!). Blogs are actually kinda intimidating but at the same time comforting. Could one imagine if such a tool was actually available to Gaius Julius Caesar or Benjamin Franklin? Granted we have access to their writings anyway BUT to have such a tool at your disposal - to record your thoughts about anything and everything under the sun - wow! I say comforting because memories can be saved and archived electronically maybe for all of eternity for the rest of your loved ones. Whatever I write - be it profound, brilliant (ha!), or just plain silly - recorded and readily available a few clicks away.

I'm writing now after putting my baby girl Maya to sleep. She is 10 weeks old and has not yet "learned" the skill of sleeping through the night. It's almost like playing the odds in Vegas. One time you're up and getting at least 5-6 straight hours of sleep (woo hoo!). The next, you're waking up every hour from midnight to 4am trying to comfort a screaming infant whose only means of communication is, well, crying. I thought I would get "ready" for motherhood by reading as much as possible on parenting techniques. The "Ferberizing" method (sounds ominous, doesn't it), nighttime parenting by Dr Sears, The Baby Whisperer, Babywise, Happiest Baby on the Block, etc etc. They are very good resources but none are working at the moment and sometimes I feel very inadequate as a parent. At my lowest and most exhausting point, I'd be crying along with her, like I was at 3am this morning when I was nursing for what seemed to be the nth time of the night. I'd have a few good days and then boom, we have to start all over again. I'd pray to God to help her sleep through the night and many times I would gingerly go lie down on the side of our bed and pray that I do not have to get up again in 10 minutes. But maybe I'm missing the point of parenting here by focusing too much on my child's ability to sleep. After all, at some point in her young life, we will figure it out (yes we will!). Maybe I should pray more for wisdom (like Solomon did when he was about to lead Israel as king after his father King David had died). I've only been a parent for 10 weeks and it already has been an incredible (and very humbling) experience. I'm looking forward to the weeks and months and years to come and I pray that I parent this child (along with my husband Justin) with grace and wisdom.

Many times I am rewarded with bright-eyed smiles and sweet coos, even if they do come at 2am in the morning.